Ailing editor taken to remote prison in Niger

New York, September 2, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the health of imprisoned editor Abdoulaye
Tiémogo after his transfer from
a hospital in Niger's capital,
Niamey, to a
prison in a remote town on Monday.

Tiémogo, editor of the weekly Le Canard Déchaîné, is suffering
from malaria and is no longer receiving adequate medical attention in a prison
in Ouallam, 55 miles (88 kilometers) to the north of Niamey, his wife,
Zeïnabou Tiémogo, told CPJ. He contracted malaria while in detention at Niamey's central prison,
according to local journalists. He was then hospitalized at the city's NationalHospital on August 22--four days after a
court sentenced
him to three months in jail in connection with
his coverage critical of the government, according to the Niger Association of
Independent Press Editors. Tiémogo
has appealed the sentence and is awaiting a ruling, according to defense lawyer
Marc Le Bihan.

"We are deeply disturbed that the authorities have moved AbdoulayeTiémogo against
medical advice to a remote prison," said Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes.
"We hold them responsible for his well-being and demand that he receive
adequate medical treatment immediately."

A doctor from Niamey's central prison, backed by guards,
picked upTiémogo from his hospital bed on Monday
despite the hospital's doctor's determination that the journalist required more
treatment, his wife, also a journalist, said.

The deliberate choice of the
remote prison over a closer, more convenient one has isolated Tiémogo and put him at risk, said Abdourahamane Ousmane, president of the localNetwork of Journalists for Human Rights.

Tiémogo was arrested
on August 1, a few days before a controversial national referendum passed a
constitutional amendment increasing presidential control
of the press.